Hi everyone, I am new here so be gentle! I am lucky enough to be the owner of a 2023 Diavel V4. Not my usual kind of bike but I wanted a bit of a change and the Diavel V4 seemed like an amazing bike; bloody pricey but very unique. I have enjoyed a few months of riding and am always amazed at how well it handles. I finally persuaded my better half that she might like to come for a little ride around the block or maybe a bit further (never managed to get her on the back before) and she agreed! Great I thought, now I just need to adjust the rear suspension a bit as neither of us suffers from undernourishment. To my amazement, the rear suspension cannot (easily) be adjusted by the owner. The manual actually states: "Have the rear shock absorber adjusted at a Ducati authorised Service Centre". I am totally amazed at this and as far as I know, this is totally unique! I've not owned or even known of a motorcycle to have rear suspension the owner can adjust. In the second picture, you can clearly see that bodywork has been removed to make the adjusters accessible. To me this is clearly a design flaw. I am guessing the bike was intended to have electronically adjustable suspension but this didn't make it into production. I'd love to know anyone else's experience and if I have somehow got totally the wrong end of the stick. All the best, Tim.
Hi. I have zero knowledge of this bike but most modern Ducati owners manuals point you to the dealers, even to adjust the bloody chain FFS!! My advice would be remove whatever you need and adjust yourself. Enjoy.
mate looking at pics of the bike from all angles it does not appear you need to remove the fairing. The top of the rear shock is clearly visible from the back end of the bike. You should be able to adjust your preload from the back. Maybe the manual shows a cut away for better illustration purposes? I dont think adjusting preload would require fairing removal. Take a picture of your rear shock and post it up.
Thanks for the reply. I think this picture might tell the story. The preload adjustment rings are definitely under the side fairings. I get what you are saying about the image just being a 'cut-away' but I genuinely think they need to come off to access the adjusters.
Have you taken the saddle off ? Access to the rear shock lock rings on our Monster 937, is through a removable panel under the rider’s seat. Andy
Hi Tim, Based on your picture and the manual excerpt you provided, I would say: 1. Rebound - Adjuster (1) is visible from the bottom of the shock where the rear mudguard meets that silver protruding ball looking thing is probably a clockwise or anti clockwise adjuster for the REB. 2. Compression is visible by your black reservoir in front of the shock. 3. Preload appears to go into the seat just like Android mentioned above on his monster. I dont think you need to remove fairing Tim. Unless you class the seat as fairing, but thats quite an easy thing to do on the fly if ever needed.
Thanks for all of the replies - much appreciated. I had previously checked under the seat but at that stage was sure there must be an easier way, so I'd not started disassembling stuff under there. Under the seat, this is what you have: You can then remove the plastic tray (four allen bolts) and you get this! Yay! The adjustment rings at last. I should have figured this sooner but after taking the seat off previously, I did not even think that I copuld remove more stuff to get to the top of the shock. Not much room to work there but it might just be enough. Shame the owners manual does not cover this. Thanks everyone.
well done Andy! Your starting a dangerous precedent mate. We will all start coming to you now with rants of frustration to solve our Ducati disgruntlement!!
For the price of the Diavel, electronic suspension wouldn’t be too much to ask. I’m interested to see if they announce an S model later in the year with the electronic semi adjustable Ohlins.
The 1st generation Diavel 1200 had exactly that but unfortunately, the location of the rear shock absorber and the convoluted linkage made it a weak link. Before we sold ours, the lower rose joint was replaced 3 times and the remote preload pipe melted twice. The shock was also a huge PITA to keep clean. Andy
I’m hoping to get mine in to Maxton so see if they can build a remote adjustment shock for my diavel v4
Sat here, enjoying a coffee and had a search on t’internet. Nitron currently only offer suspension for the 2011-2018 Diavel but I’m sure, if you spoke to them direct, something could be worked out. They built a front fork cartridge kit for me that lowered the suspension and I found them very accommodating when speaking to them. Andy
